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CHAPTER 1

ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΚΑΘΟΛΙΚΗ ΤΡΙΤΗ[449] [449] ιωαννου γ̄ א; ιωανου γ̄ B; ιωαννου επιστολη γ̄ C, many minusc.; ιωαννου επιστολη καθολικη γ̄ 101, 106; επιστολη τριτη του αγιου αποστολου ιωαννου L; του αυτου αγιου ιωαννου του θεολογου επιστολη τριτη 95; επιστολη του αγιου αποστολου και ηγαπημενου προς γαϊον ιωαννου 4.

THE THIRD EPISTLE

3 John 1:1-4. Address and Commendation. “The Elder to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in Truth. Beloved, in all respects I pray that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I was exceedingly glad when brethren would come and testify to thy Truth, even as thou walkest in Truth. A greater gladness than this I have not—that I should hear of my children walking in the Truth.”

3 John 1:1. ὁ πρεσβύτερος, see Introd. pp. 159 ff. ἐγώ, see note on 2 John 1:1 ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, see note on 2 John 1:1.

3 John 1:2. Cf. Law, Ser. Call, chap. vii. “Flavia would be a miracle of piety, if she was but half as careful of her soul as she is of her body. The rising of a pimple on her face, the sting of a gnat, will make her keep her room for two or three days, and she thinks they are very rash people that do not take care of things in time.” Penn, Fruits of Solitude: “He is curious to wash, dress and perfume his Body, but careless of his Soul. The one shall have many Hours, the other not so many Minutes.” περὶ πάντων, de omnibus, with εὐοδοῦσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν, not præ omnibus, “above all things”. The latter use is epic (e.g., Horn. Il. i. 287: περὶ πάντων ἕμμεναι ἄλλων), and prosperity and health were not the summa bona in the Apostle’s estimation. εὐοδοῦσθαι, “prosper” in worldly matters. Trouble tests character. “A good knight is best known in battle, and a Christian in the time of trouble and adversity”; and Gaius had stood the test. The hostility of Diotrephes, probably a well-to-do member of the Church, had lessened his maintenance (εὐοδοῦσθαι) and affected his health (ὑγιαίνειν), yet St. John has only admiration for the spirit he has manifested and commendation for the part he has played.

3 John 1:3. ἐχάρην, see note on 2 John 1:4. ἐρχομένων, repeatedly, not on one particular occasion (ἐλθόντων). The itinerant brethren (die reisenden Brüder) were always at work, going out from Ephesus on their missions and returning with their reports. Cf. 3 John 1:5-6. See Introd. p. 155.

3 John 1:4. Cf. Senec. Ep. xxxiv.: “Si agricolam arbor ad fructum perducta delectat, si pastor ex fœtu gregis sui capit voluptatem, si alumnum suum nemo aliter intuetur quam adulescentiam illius suam judicet: quid evenire credis his qui ingenia educaverunt, et quæ tenera formaverunt adulta subito vident?” Ev. sec. Heb. (quoted by Jerome on Ephesians 5:4): “Et numquam, inquit (Dominus), læti sitis nisi cum fratrem vestrum videritis in caritate”. μειζοτέραν, a double compar.; cf. ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ (Ephesians 3:8); our “lesser”; Germ. mehrere. τούτων: this use of the plur. (ταῦτα) rather than the sing (τοῦτο) is common. See Moulton’s Winer, p. 201. ἵνα, epexegetic of τούτων. Cf. Luke 1:43 and 1 John 3:11. τέκνα implies that Ganius was a convert of St. John. Cf. marg. note.

3 John 1:5-8. The Duty of Entertaining Itinerant Preachers. “Beloved, it is a work of faith that thou art doing in thy treatment of the brethren, strangers withal. They testified to thy love before the Church; and thou wilt do well in speeding them on their way worthily of God. For it was for the sake of the Name that they went forth, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore are bound to undertake for such, that we may prove fellow-workers with the Truth.”

A company of reisende Brüder had returned to Ephesus, and in reporting of their mission at a meeting of the Church had made special mention of the hospitality of Gaius. The Apostle commends him and bids him continue his good offices.

3 John 1:5. The adjective πιστός is either act., “believing” (cf. John 20:27), or passive, “worthy to be believed,” “trustworthy” (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2). It is passive here, and it is well explained by Œcumenius as equivalent to ἄξιον πιστοῦ ἀνδρός. The peculiarity is that, by a sort of hypallage, the adjective is transferred from the subjective to the objective. Transitive: “Thou makest whatever thou workest on the brethren a believing act, a work of faith”. It was not mere hospitality but a religious service. Westcott’s rendering: “thou makest sure whatsoever thou doest” gives πιστόν an unexampled and indeed impossible meaning. ποιεῖς, aor. of habitual and constant hospitality; ἐργάσῃ, aor. of each particular act. καὶ τοῦτο, “and that to”; more commonly καὶ ταῦτα (cf. Hebrews 9:12).

3 John 1:6. On the anarthrous ἐκκλησίας, see note on 2 John 1:10. καλῶς ποιήσεις has the sense of “please” in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri; e.g., 300, 3–6: ἔπεμψά σοι διὰ τοῦ καμηλείτου Ταυρείνου τὸ πανάριον, περὶ οὗ καλῶς ποιήσεις ἀντιφωνήσασά μοι ὅτι ἐκομίσου, “I sent you the bread-basket by the cameleer Taurinus; please let me have word again that you got it”. προπέμψας: when a Rabbi visited a town, it was customary on his departure to escort him on his way (Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., on Matthew 5:41). The gracious usage was observed in the primitive Church, and it appears to have included the furnishing of provision for the journey (cf. Titus 3:13). Cf. Hom. Od. xv., 74: χρὴ ξεῖνον παρεόντα φιλεῖν, ἐθέλοντα δὲ πέμπειν. “welcome the coming, speed the parting guest”. ἀξίως τοῦ Θεοῦ, “in a manner worthy of God,” i.e. (1) “Since they are God’s representatives (John 13:20), weil ihr evangelistenwerk Gottes Werk ist (Holtzm.), treat them as you would treat God”; (2) “Since you are God’s representatives, treat them as God would treat them”.

3 John 1:7. τοῦ Ὀνόματος, sc. of Jesus (cf. Acts 5:40-41). There is perhaps a reference to this verse in Ignat. ad Eph. 7:1: εἰώθασι γάρ τινες δόλῳ πονηρῷ τὸ ὄνομα περιφέρειν, ἄλλα τινὰ πράσσοντες ἀνάξια Θεοῦ. 3:1: δέδεμαι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι. ἐξῆλθαν, sc. from Ephesus, the seat of the Apostle and therefore the headquarters of the Church in Asia Minor. Cf. Introd. p. 155. μηδέν, see note on 1 John 2:4. Winer (Moulton’s Winer, p. 463, note 1) draws a distinction, perhaps too fine, between λαμβάνειν παρά τινος and λαμβάνειν ἇπό τινος, The former would have been used here had the Gentiles “proferred an acknowledgment; the latter implies exaction. The missionaries might have accepted maintenance (Matthew 10:10), but like St. Paul they waived their right, “that they might cause no hindrance to the Gospel of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9).